It really should be Lex Luthor. He's Superman's greatest, most interesting, most long standing, deepest and most contrasting enemy. He deserves the TDK Joker treatment. The philosophical conflict should take center stage in part 2. It doesn't hurt that Lex Luthor can 'field' things like Parasite, Bizzaro, Metallo even Doomsday as needed, or even be on a quest to access Brainiac.

For the third movie, then you move it to something incredibly physical like Brainaic, Doomsday or Darkseid.

It really should be Lex Luthor. He's Superman's greatest, most interesting, most long standing, deepest and most contrasting enemy. He deserves the TDK Joker treatment. The philosophical conflict should take center stage in part 2. It doesn't hurt that Lex Luthor can 'field' things like Parasite, Bizzaro, Metallo even Doomsday as needed, or even be on a quest to access Brainiac.

For the third movie, then you move it to something incredibly physical like Brainaic, Doomsday or Darkseid.

Agreed

__________________ Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul I swear: until my dream where dignity, honor, and justice becomes the reality we all share I'll never stop fighting. Ever - Superman

I'd like to see Luthor in the series, but he doesn't need a movie all to himself. There's more to his character than a one-dimensional villain. Let's see him in the universe, similarly to how Talia was in TDKR.

Brainiac is the biggest no brainer in the history of no brainers. His movie version could be a totally unique creation by using all the versions from the comics and more. He could be such a powerful and overwhelmingly scary villain that it's not even funny.

And use Luthor too, but not as a Brainiac accomplice. Have him be the guy that actually BELIEVES in something (nothing's scarier than that), like the Brian Azzarello "humanist to the extreme" version. He should be such an alien hater that he helps in Brainiac's demise, but at the end he appropriates himself of his tech... because if aliens should have a presence on Earth, it should be under human control and on human terms. HIS terms.

I would love to se Lex/Metallo team up, but I think Darkseid is better suited for a Justice League film sort of how Avengers is building up for Thanos...I wanna feel is threat, his power coming...for a 3rd Doomsday/Brainac team up would be nice and a Supergirl intro could work...Supes is gonna need help to take down those two

I'd like to see Snyder follow Nolan's pattern from The Dark Knight. First film, you get a relatively well-known villain who can bend, but not break, the hero (Zod). Second film, you bring out the big gun, the most marketable villain and evil genius (Luthor) to completely throw the hero's world into chaos and test his values. Third film, you bring in the brawn (Doomsday or Darkseid), and the greatest test of the trilogy. That being said, Superman and Batman are completely different personalities, so it may not fit.

This would extend past Justice League, and I know that plot would have to be taken into account too. Just thoughts.

What it seems they've picked up on from MOS is to have Superman action really seem top notch, his threat level has to be raised to the point where the audience increasingly asks "how can he survive this?!"

Also multiple villains is never that hard of a thing to do. Nolan has already shown us that ten-fold. If you're a great writer, and if you do your research (many of the best comic titles use more than one villain), you'll see how it can easily be done to create an intense thrilling character piece summer blockbuster.

MOS 2:

Possibly a henchman of some type.

MOS 3:

Doomsday acting more as a weapon they utilize - think Kevin Smith's script just with Doomsday.

Go big or go home in the end.

__________________"If we are all united, we can take back our lives. While they stand divided, we can fight them and their laws. If we get up off our knees, we can show them that we are people. We can take back this "free" country! - Anti-Flag

Film 1: Zod. Essentially Supes' version of Ra's Al Ghul. A ruthless military villain with connections to Superman's past.

Film 2: Brainiac. Essentially Supes' Joker. An intelligent enemy that can outsmart Supes for much of the film and really play mind games with him, offering him all that he knows about Krypton. Inhuman and cold, he's the opposite to Supes' warm humanity.

Film 3: Luthor / Doomsday. Essentially the TDKR story. Luthor unleashes Doomsday (Bane) on Supes, a big physical threat, and Supes is "killed." Luthor creates a puppet clone Superman which he uses to keep power in Metropolis, until Superman's unexpected return.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Arrow_22

Look for reports of mysterious heroism in the next 6 years. Then check back on this thread

__________________ Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul I swear: until my dream where dignity, honor, and justice becomes the reality we all share I'll never stop fighting. Ever - Superman

MOS2: Brainiac with the introduction of Lex Luthor. After Kal-El is done with Brainiac Lex being the opportunist that he is will easily take advantage of Kryptonian technology. Which in turn leads to....

MOS3: Lex Luthor. Perhaps he could create Metallo/Parasite in this film leading to a suited up Luthor later in the film.

Wouldn't mind seeing Toyman in a cameo role where Superman foils his plans. Bruno Mannheim and Intergang would be great too. And I agree that Darkseid should be saved for Justice League. Not entirely sold on Doomsday really.

__________________"Stop, don't run it gets easier before we get carried away, and I swear you won't want to leave here once it's done, now pretend that it's only a game ...."

I think we're at a point in history where Lex Luthor is obviously Superman's "Joker." He has nothing in common with Superman but a stage. Lex Luthor, whom we can expect to be set up in MOS, is the one who fields enemies, who plays on Superman's greatest weakness: his paragonness. Lex Luthor is the one who can stand in Superman's face, hit him where it hurts most and laugh, putting his arm around the big guy and waving to the crowd. No one else can do that. If you want to put Superman through heck, you gotta make Lex what he's supposed to be, even if a shadow of Luthor has been overused in previous films.

It doesn't hurt that Luthor can drop Metallo, or Bizzarro, or Parasite or whatever on Superman easy-peasy.

Brainiac is a great physical villain, but, despite his name, he doesn't outsmart Superman in stories, not because he can't, but because that's not what the character is about at its core. Brainiac isn't a mastermind. He's almost a force of nature, but not a mastermind.